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Directory of Resources

The American Birding Association's (ABA) Birding and Nature Festivals Directory is a searchable database, to enable you to find festivals by location, month or keywords. ABA also lists birding courses and training programs that may be of interest to the active or budding birder and field ornithologist.

The Birdhouse Network is a citizen-science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in which people place birdhouses, or nest boxes, in their yard or neighborhood and then monitor the birds that nest inside. Participants gather information, such as the number of eggs and young in the nest, then submit their data over the Internet to scientists at the Lab of Ornithology.

BirdIQ is a bird conservation partnership between ConocoPhillips and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The BirdIQ Web site is one-stop shopping for information and educational material about birds. Visit here, and to learn about conservation groups around the country that have posters, videos, curricula, and educational materials galore! Whether you want to learn more yourself, to share your education ideas, or to introduce your students, scouts, or neighborhood kids to birds, this is the place to start. Land Management Practices to Benefit Birds

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Visit the Lab for the Ultimate Resource for Birds and Birding on the Web. Explore the multimedia bird guide and delve into a wealth of information about feeding, attracting, and watching birds. A dynamic online guide provides bird species identifications and in-depth information, including sounds, video and distribution maps.

New to birding or need to brush up on your skills? Check out our new Birding Basics for tips and resources to help prepare you for this event. Also, learn about Stories from the Great Backyard Bird Count.

eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.

eNature.com is a searchable nature and wildlife database with information and photographs on birds, mammals, fish, wildflowers, trees, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, insects, seashore creatures and more. eNature offers a resource for birders that includes advanced tools for identifying any bird with detailed info on the species, songs and calls, habitat and migratory patterns.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is brought to you by the National Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All across America, our birds face survival challenges from loss of habitat to introduced predators, to diseases like the West Nile Virus. This may be affecting the birds that visit your backyard each and every year. The GBBC focuses on the effects of these threats, bring conservation home by telling participants what they can do to help, and add vital new information to our understanding of our birds and their environment.

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic, they are constantly in flux. Everyone's contribution is important. It doesn't matter whether you identify, count, and report the 5 species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day's outing to a wildlife refuge. Your data can help us answer many questions: 

• How will this winter's snow and cold temperatures influence bird populations?    
• Where are the WINTER finches and other irruptive species?    
• Will late winter movements of many SONGBIRD and waterfowl species be as far north as they were last year?

The data that you collect will be combined with Christmas Bird Count and Project FeederWatch data to give us an immense picture of our winter birds. Each year that these data are collected makes them more important and meaningful. So as we see patterns, discover new questions and insights, we'll update you. And we'll ask for your help again.

International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) celebrates the incredible journeys of migratory birds between their breeding grounds in North America and their wintering grounds in Mexico, Central and South America. The event, which takes place on the second Saturday in May each year, encourages bird conservation and increases awareness of birds through hikes, bird watching, information about birds and migration, public events, and a variety of other education programs. 

The National Audubon Society calls upon volunteers across the western hemisphere to bring their binoculars, grab a field guide and participate in one of Audubon’s winter-time traditions, the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), which is always held December 14th through January 5th of each season.

CBC reveals scientific information on the winter distributions of various bird species. CBC is important in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds across the western hemisphere. Count results from 1900 to the present are available at BirdSource, a collaborative Web site of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All counts are open to birders of all skill levels.

NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organization that provides the scientific information and tools needed to help guide effective conservation action. NatureServe and its network of natural heritage programs are the leading source for information about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems.

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center is dedicated to fostering greater understanding, appreciation, and protection of the grand phenomenon of bird migration. The Center's research, education, and policy efforts extend throughout the Americas, to protect all the habitats that are crucial to the annual pilgrimage of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere.

The U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Committee is a forum of government agencies, private organizations, and bird initiatives helping partners across the continent meet their common bird conservation objectives. Its strategy is to foster coordination and collaboration among the bird conservation community on key issues of concern.

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